FEMA Revisited
So I think I might, maybe, possibly, perhaps could have straightened out this FEMA money debacle, for which I have no one to blame but myself.
But first, let me recap:
1.) On Sept. 27, three days after Hurricane Rita galloped through town, I filled out the online FEMA form begging for money. Considering that there were hardly any people here due to the evacuation, and considering electricity and Internet access were scarce anyway, I was way ahead of the game.
2.) On Sept. 28, a FEMA representative contacted me and set up an appointment for the next morning to check out the damage.
3.) On Sept. 29, FEMA guy shows up right on time. I might have been the first Beaumont resident to see a FEMA field inspector, because he told me there was conflicting information about the ability to move around in Beaumont, so inspectors were hesitant to come. I clarified matters and became a valuable information resource for FEMA, or at least for this guy, if nothing else.
4.) Later that day, I realized with horror that I juxtaposed the bank routing and checking account number on the FEMA form. I can't access the online account to make the change, so I subsequently spent hours and hours on hold on the FEMA line, only to be cut off. Twice.
5.) I discovered the FEMA help center in the mall parking lot. I wait in a long line, use the phone and get the number problem fixed.
6.) A week later, I checked with the bank, but no FEMA money was deposited. It's only supposed to take 48 hours for direct deposit.
7.) On Oct. 11, I waited again in the long FEMA line, used the phone and was told the money was sent out Oct. 3. I said I hadn't received the money, so the FEMA agent said the money would be reissued.
That brings us to two days ago, when I checked the bank again and found no FEMA deposit.
So yesterday, I called that dreaded FEMA line again and - BINGO! - I got through after being on hold only 2 minutes. I explained the problem, and the FEMA person told me that the money issuance was on hold because the agency had received no indication from the bank that the money never went through.
Panic set in.
Hurricane Wilma is coming, and when she hits Florida, as she is predicted to do, FEMA once again will become a nasty quagmire of telephone calls, confusion and conflagration. It will take at least a month to get back to 2-minute-wait status on that FEMA line, and I've been spending money like crazy to get life back to some semblance of normal.
My problem must be solved before Wilma makes landfall.
So I scurried over to the bank and explained the state of affairs. A bank woman who overheard my plight came over and said she handled the same juxtaposition problem, and that the matter was turned over to the U.S. Treasury Department for review.
THE U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT!!!!!
< : - 0
Not wanting to add another bureaucracy into the mix, I begged the bank officer to call FEMA and see if we could take care of this right there, right then.
So she called and got through in under 7 minutes, and a FEMA supervisor on the other end got involved and told me that my money was stuck in some kind of departmental loop-de-loop. He assured me that FEMA realized the problem and that the money - after running its course through finance, the FEMA lounge and some guy named Clyde in the basement - it would be disbursed in about a week.
As my wife keeps saying about just about everything regarding outside help, I'll believe it when I see it.
But first, let me recap:
1.) On Sept. 27, three days after Hurricane Rita galloped through town, I filled out the online FEMA form begging for money. Considering that there were hardly any people here due to the evacuation, and considering electricity and Internet access were scarce anyway, I was way ahead of the game.
2.) On Sept. 28, a FEMA representative contacted me and set up an appointment for the next morning to check out the damage.
3.) On Sept. 29, FEMA guy shows up right on time. I might have been the first Beaumont resident to see a FEMA field inspector, because he told me there was conflicting information about the ability to move around in Beaumont, so inspectors were hesitant to come. I clarified matters and became a valuable information resource for FEMA, or at least for this guy, if nothing else.
4.) Later that day, I realized with horror that I juxtaposed the bank routing and checking account number on the FEMA form. I can't access the online account to make the change, so I subsequently spent hours and hours on hold on the FEMA line, only to be cut off. Twice.
5.) I discovered the FEMA help center in the mall parking lot. I wait in a long line, use the phone and get the number problem fixed.
6.) A week later, I checked with the bank, but no FEMA money was deposited. It's only supposed to take 48 hours for direct deposit.
7.) On Oct. 11, I waited again in the long FEMA line, used the phone and was told the money was sent out Oct. 3. I said I hadn't received the money, so the FEMA agent said the money would be reissued.
That brings us to two days ago, when I checked the bank again and found no FEMA deposit.
So yesterday, I called that dreaded FEMA line again and - BINGO! - I got through after being on hold only 2 minutes. I explained the problem, and the FEMA person told me that the money issuance was on hold because the agency had received no indication from the bank that the money never went through.
Panic set in.
Hurricane Wilma is coming, and when she hits Florida, as she is predicted to do, FEMA once again will become a nasty quagmire of telephone calls, confusion and conflagration. It will take at least a month to get back to 2-minute-wait status on that FEMA line, and I've been spending money like crazy to get life back to some semblance of normal.
My problem must be solved before Wilma makes landfall.
So I scurried over to the bank and explained the state of affairs. A bank woman who overheard my plight came over and said she handled the same juxtaposition problem, and that the matter was turned over to the U.S. Treasury Department for review.
THE U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT!!!!!
< : - 0
Not wanting to add another bureaucracy into the mix, I begged the bank officer to call FEMA and see if we could take care of this right there, right then.
So she called and got through in under 7 minutes, and a FEMA supervisor on the other end got involved and told me that my money was stuck in some kind of departmental loop-de-loop. He assured me that FEMA realized the problem and that the money - after running its course through finance, the FEMA lounge and some guy named Clyde in the basement - it would be disbursed in about a week.
As my wife keeps saying about just about everything regarding outside help, I'll believe it when I see it.
posted by Brian Pearson at 10:56 AM
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